spruce
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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A bring‑and‑buy sale on Canal Street was organised to raise money to spruce up the rather drab-looking hospital ward treating those with HIV and Aids at the height of the epidemic.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Other houses were given a free lick of paint to spruce them up ahead of the arrival of the heads of state of 32 nations, including US President Donald Trump, the Sozcu newspaper reported.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Martin and Co. guitar, a seamless blend of spruce, mahogany, celluloid, ebony and mother-of-pearl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Whether you’re looking to spruce up weeknight dinners or wow a crowd of guests, be sure to give these embellishments a try.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
In the distance, spruce trees stood straight like candles surrounding it.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
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"Previously, it was spruces or cedars, but today, we find endemic species better adapted to the climate," Merdan Arazmedov, a member of Turkmenistan's Nature Protection Society, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Dec. 18, 2025
There’s no escaping the fact the simulated emergency care being given under shade of spruces could be carried out in grim reality in the coming weeks and months.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024
Nothing spruces up outdoor entertaining like a unique centerpiece.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
At the head of it all, where the grass grows into a forest mixed with pines, spruces, and birch, is a small bar with a "Huuva Hideaway" sign hanging above.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2022
A hand swoops in to grab mine, pulling me toward one of the giant spruces, and we get under just as hail starts pelting down.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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Mr. Kabelac, who seemed the sprucer, less bashful of the two, spoke right up: "I'd be glad to marry her if Mrs. Stull says it's all right."
From Time Magazine Archive
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The storekeeper, much sprucer in dress than heretofore, smiled and nodded to her over the bridge of his violin.
From How Janice Day Won by Helen Beecher Long
Or he would be denounced as a "sprucer" if he managed to arrive late for his meal and yet, by a trick, to secure a front place in the waiting queue at the canteen.
From Observations of an Orderly Some Glimpses of Life and Work in an English War Hospital by Ward Muir
The Bowdoins, father and son, noted that their old clerk's dress was sprucer.
From Pirate Gold by Frederic Jesup Stimson
Oh, if my hands adhere to cash, My gloves at least are clean, And rarely have the gentry flash In sprucer clothes been seen.
From Paul Clifford — Complete by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
Thenceforth, while Britain's Glubb Pasha built the British-equipped Arab Legion into Islam's sprucest fighting force, Abdullah ruled the sandy wastes as a Bedouin black-tent state.
From Time Magazine Archive
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But Mr. Hugh Wenlock was on deck in the sprucest of his apparel, and was visibly anxious and fidgety, as befitted a man who shortly expected to enter into the bonds of matrimony.
From A Master of Fortune Being Further Adventures of Captain Kettle by Stanley L. Wood
Along thy sprucest bookshelves shine The works thou deemest most divine— The 'Art of Cookery,' and mine, My Murray.
From Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 4 With His Letters and Journals by Thomas Moore
Would any one wish to see these remains tricked out in the sprucest, or even the richest, modern habiliments?
From The Book-Collector A General Survey of the Pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at Home and Abroad from the Earliest Period to the Present Time by William Carew Hazlitt
Some buildings were spruced up as part of a tourism drive launched in the 1990s, which peaked in the years following the landmark 2016 visit by former US President Barack Obama.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
She moved into his mother’s house and spruced it up with a new fence and fresh coat of paint, the relative said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026
While he has not produced a successful and critically acclaimed new musical in many years, the better-known works in his catalog have been spruced up by innovative directors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
One of the most crucial sequences involves the makeover that Glinda tries to give Elphaba as she sings “Popular” in their Shiz University dorm room, which she has spruced up with pink accouterments.
From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2024
Three days later, as the invitation had stated, Duane spruced himself up for what he hoped would be a tasty assortment of treats.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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Home sales are so slow owners are sprucing up their properties instead.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
I like sprucing up my ramen with fresh bok choy, baby corn, spinach and pickled red onions.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
While Malik welcomes the top court's observations and directions, she says that along with sprucing up laws, there's an urgent need to ensure their proper implementation.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
Walmart is sprucing up its home goods to attract more high-income shoppers and better compete with the e-commerce titan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
After their grease- monkey morning, they spent the better part of an hour sprucing up in the lavatory of the garage.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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Vocabulary lists containing spruce
Front Desk
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Novel Study: The Outsiders, Chapters 6–12
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"The Minister's Black Veil," Vocabulary from the short story
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